Radio system uses fiery meteor trails to transmit data
Article Abstract:
Meteor trails can be used to reflect radio signals from one point to another, creating a low-cost, highly reliable network. The exploitation of media bursts in telecommunications is due to the advent of computers which control the high-speed equipment. The Department of Defense is creating an emergency communications network of meteor burst stations that would be used in case a nuclear war or national emergency disrupted normal communication. The technology is similar to satellite communications, but meteor trails are not vulnerable to enemy warfare. Meteor burst transmissions can be sent over long ranges from unmanned, remote stations. Meteors travel at speeds up to 45 miles a second, leaving trails of electrically charged ions. When a VHF radio beam strikes the ions, they absorb the radio energy and reflect it back toward the ground. Messages must be short and equipment must be fast to catch the trail.
Publication Name: The New York Times
Subject: News, opinion and commentary
ISSN: 0362-4331
Year: 1989
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Chemists' new tools: molecular see-saws
Article Abstract:
Chemists, led by Dr. John Ross of Stanford University, are conducting research into chemical oscillations that may lead to the development of a chemical computer, similar to the theoretical universal Turing machine. The chemical oscillations work like switches to control processes, and this theory forms the basis for digital computers. Each chemical switch is like a biological neuron analog, which, if linked, could form a network to carry out functions and commands. Chemical switching may be the basis for cognitive activity in the human brain. The switches Ross proposes are not the actual ones functioning in the human brain, but this work helps to show how a switching system might work in living organisms. The device that might be constructed from this research may be the next step in mimicking the functions of the human brain.
Publication Name: The New York Times
Subject: News, opinion and commentary
ISSN: 0362-4331
Year: 1992
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First high-temperature superconducting transistor is announced: a new device could lead to improvements for computers
Article Abstract:
Government and university scientists announce the first superconducting transistor. The device was developed at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, NM, with help from the Department of Energy at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Jon Marten, representing Sandia, says the new device has properties that could make it useful as a bridge between conventional solid-state electronic components and conventional low-temperature superconductors. Previously, incorporation of superconductors into computers and similar applications was slowed because of incompatibilities of solid-state and superconducting elements.
Publication Name: The New York Times
Subject: News, opinion and commentary
ISSN: 0362-4331
Year: 1990
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